


Ashes

by pyropinkfish, QueenEdgar



Series: Politics and Omegas; Hamilton ABO [21]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Eliza deserves better, F/M, GUEST WRITTEN, M/M, alpha!angelica, beta!eliza, burn fic, omega!hamilton, omega!philip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7569730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyropinkfish/pseuds/pyropinkfish, https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenEdgar/pseuds/QueenEdgar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t deserve her…” Alex muttered, and he nearly flinched when Angelica’s harsh reply came without hesitation. </p><p>“No. You don’t.”</p><p>“Angelica-“ </p><p>---</p><p>Guest written chapter for my ABO series by the lovely QueenEdgar. Following Eliza's broken heart at her whore husband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> Guest Written for my ABO Hamilton series by QueenEdgar who felt very passionately about Beta!Eliza in my series! We talked together about notes and the direction I wanted to see Burn go, but ultimately, she wrote it and I made like two edits. 
> 
> Eliza's Burn story and the aftermath and how Angelica helps save the day. 
> 
> She's not here for you~ 
> 
> There's a small nod to the month Hamilton and Burr had a fling together here, but it's not explored in detail aside from Angelica smelling him on Hamilton. Because Hamilton thinks cheating on his wife with Maria wasn't enough, he needs to have an awkward one-sided fling with Burr. That'll solve his problems.

By the time Philip came home with the paper, Alexander was long gone, off to work as usual. She had been asleep in his arms that morning, just earlier that morning, and the very thought made Eliza feel sick to her stomach. 

She couldn’t explain it to the children, why she had been sat at the kitchen table with the paper clutched tightly in her hands, crying for the entire afternoon. When Philip came to her side with prying eyes she folded the paper calmly, as to not draw attention to it. He didn’t need to read the words that were burned into her mind, his father’s lengthy, rambling attempts to atone for his infidelity. An _affair_ , a two year affair, after she’d tried so hard to bring him home, back to his family, back to her. 

The articles praised all him for his honesty with the country’s money, grateful that the large sums had been spent on personal matters instead of treason. Personal matters seemed a far stretch, Eliza thought bitterly. No, this was hush money, this was Alexander’s own weakness, his desperation to be loved. And not just loved- no, he had a wife at home, a family, for that. This was desperation for something Eliza could never be for him: for an alpha. 

Eliza didn’t move from her spot when the door swung open, the familiar sounds of Alexander coming in. He would loosen his cravat, leave his coat at the door, just like any other day. But this wasn’t any other day, no. Today marked the end of something, the end of their reputation, their marriage, their happiness. When Alex passed the kitchen to go to his office, he almost didn’t notice his wife at the table, hands balled into tight fists in her lap. The paper still sat open on the table, a few of the words smudged and blurred by her tears. 

“Eliza-”

Her hand was faster than his, smacking Alexander away before he even had the chance to lay a hand on her shoulder. Was it meant to be comfort? An apology? Was it not yet obvious that she knew?

“Don’t touch me!!” Eliza hadn’t meant for her words to come out quite so harshly, and Alexander recoiled more from the shriek than the violent shove. When he leaned forward Eliza shrank down in her chair, away from him, but her head was held high even as the tears began to well again. 

“You didn’t tell me.” Her voice was shaking, but the second Alexander opened his mouth to interject she continued. He didn’t have the right to get a word in, not right now, not after everything. “I had to read it in the paper, like everyone else. The whole block probably smelt it on you, and I sat here...I sat here like a fool and made a cup of tea!!” 

Alexander knew it wouldn’t be easy, facing Eliza. But the shrill, unbridled anger was nothing he could have prepared for. The chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floors as Eliza stood up abruptly, keeping her distance from her husband.

 

“Eliza, I never meant to-”

“To cheat? To lie, to hurt me?! Tell me Alexander, what could you possibly say right now, what could warrant your words?”

There was a beat of silence, Alexander’s helpless expression as he scrambled to find words. Eliza’s eyes remained narrowed, anger barely masking her hurt.

“I’m sorry.” The second the words left his mouth he knew they were wrong. Sorry couldn’t fix this, sorry didn’t change anything. He had to do this, couldn’t she see that? He had no other choice! But Eliza’s hurt scoff, a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob that was choked up in her throat, was all he needed to hear to know he had done wrong. Eliza shook her head, snapping a sharp look over to the stairs when she saw their eldest son ushering his siblings upstairs, eyes wide with concern as he saw his mother in hysterics, his father’s face filled with shame. For a brief moment Eliza found her eyes stuck on Philip. How easily she could save face, forgive Alexander, keep their family together, if for nothing else than their children’s sake. But when she looked back to Alexander she knew she couldn’t forgive him, not for this, not right now. 

“You need to leave.” Her words were quiet now, refusing to yell anymore with their children only a floor away, no doubt trying to listen to see what was going on. “You can pack your things tonight, tell the children you’re going away for work-just...just go, Alexander.” Eliza refused to meet his gaze, eyes flicking down to the floor as more of those damned tears began to fall. 

If he spoke to her, she didn’t acknowledge it, walking back over to the table to collect the paper before disappearing into Alexander’s office without word. She heard soft footsteps on the stairs, quiet voices as Alex reassured their children all was well with so much conviction Eliza almost believed him. A failure of a husband, but at least he was still a good father to their children.

Eliza worked quickly and silently in the office, collecting letters and writings, setting them aside with the daily paper. She bit back another sob when she found drafts, edits on all ninety some pages of the damned pamphlet, detailing every intricacy of Alexander infidelity. She stacked all the papers haphazardly, before toting the documents out to the living room. It only took a few pages to really spark the flames in the fireplace, watching every word, every trace of Alexander’s disgusting affair burn up into white smoke. 

“Eliza?!” She didn’t turn around at the cry of her name; despite the frantic yelling, she knew exactly how large the fire had grown, taking satisfaction in the way the flames seemed to lick at the underside of the mantle. If their marriage was to burn, perhaps the house should go with it. She had no idea how she could sleep in their bed knowing what Alexander had done there anyways. So she continued to ignore him, kneeling by the fire as she fed the hungry flames page after page. Eliza didn’t even hear the door close, but hours later when the fire began to burn itself out, she found she was alone, the children in bed and Alexander gone, just like she’d told him to be. 

Without the burn of the fire, or the hot anger and betrayal coursing through her, a much colder feeling of loneliness creep into Eliza’s veins. She wrote to Angelica almost immediately, before finally taking to the couch for the night. No doubt her bed would only seem colder without Alexander there.

\----

Alexander didn’t see either of the Schuyler sisters again until Angelica was set to go back to London, after taking his place at home with Eliza and the children for the past month, leaving Alexander to bounce between houses, or else sleep on the couch in his office. She didn’t care to make a flashy entrance, knocking twice on the wooden door before letting herself in. There was still a cold anger behind her eyes, and it really wasn’t a surprise she remained standing even after Hamilton’s insistence that she sit, stay for some tea. 

“I’m leaving.” The words were followed by a moment of confusion- hadn’t she only just arrived? Alexander tried to take a step closer to her, but Angelica wrinkled her nose and stepped back. He smelled like Burr, enough so to mask his strong, sweet scent. It was far too much to chalk it up to them simply sharing an office, but neither of them mentioned it, sitting in the uncomfortable growing silence before Alexander spoke up.

“Why are you telling me this?” Angelica looked to be debating the same thing, why she had come all this way after snubbing Alexander when she first arrived back in New York. But she knew this wasn’t about her, or Alex. 

“I know my sister,” Angelica said bluntly. “She’ll never admit that she still needs you, not after what you did.” She practically snarled the words, a cold accusation that had Alexander averting his eyes, anywhere that would require him to meet her gaze. Eliza didn’t need him, didn’t _want_ him. 

“What are you saying?” 

Angelica took a slow breath through her mouth-honestly, the stench of Burr in the room was repulsive-before taking a slow step over to Alexander, tipping his chin up to meet her gaze, asserting herself as the alpha over him.

“Go home.”

Alexander pulled away from her touch, more out of shock than anything. 

“She told me to go-“

“Alexander.” Angelica stepped closer again, refusing to let him back away from her. “Go home, be with your family.”

Alexander went quiet, searching Angelica’s face for an answer, for what could possibly compel her to send him back into Eliza’s arms when he was certain the last person his wife wanted to see was him.

“I don’t deserve her…” Alex muttered, and he nearly flinched when Angelica’s harsh reply came without hesitation. 

“No. You don’t.”

“Angelica-“

“Goodbye, Alexander.”

And just like that it was over, Angelica sweeping out of his office as quickly as she had arrived, leaving behind a sinking feeling of emptiness and the heavy burden of facing his wife later that night.

\----

Alexander left the office before sundown that night, and his palms were sweaty (knees weak arms spaghetti) as he clutched his bag. Something felt wrong about knocking at his own home, his heart echoing the sound in his chest, steady and rhythmic and a bit too fast.

When Eliza opened the door he felt his breath catch, and something about the quiet resignation in her eyes told him Angelica had forewarned her he was coming home. 

“Come in.”

It was an invitation, and it was enough to have Alexander letting out a slow breath, breathing her name out like a prayer as he reached out to her, only to have a hand held up in front of his face, stopping him in his tracks.

“This isn’t forgiveness,” she said firmly, and her words were so sharp and guarded Alexander swallowed any reply he had come up with, simply nodding. “You have a couch in your office, you can sleep there.”

Another nod and that was the end of the discussion, Eliza waving him into the kitchen and putting the kettle on. She stepped around him carefully, keeping her distance as to not brush up against him on accident. She set his cup on the counter next to him, and when Alexander murmured a quiet ‘thank you’ they both knew he wasn’t talking about the tea.

The silence hung in the room like smog, thick and clouded, choking up Alexander’s lungs as he sat in silence, something so foreign and uncomfortable to him that he resigned himself to scalding his throat, steadily sipping his tea to keep himself from opening his mouth. 

“This isn’t for you,” Eliza finally spoke up, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “It’s for the children, they need a father.” And she needed a husband, but Eliza would never admit it, not when the wounds of Alexander’s betrayal were still so fresh.

When the children finally came down for supper the younger ones ran straight into their father’s arms, too young to understand why he had been gone or to hold a grudge. Philip shared their excitement, but he paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking between his parents hesitantly. He was smart, smart enough to know what had happened, to connect the dots after he heard his mother crying night after night. 

Philip greeted his father quietly, but he never moved from Eliza’s side, and Alexander’s heart broke a bit more; he had never meant to see his children caught in the crossfires, he had never meant to hurt his family. But there was no undoing what he had done, and it was all he could do to put on a small smile through dinner, taking care of the dishes as Eliza went to put the children down for the night. Alexander watched as she went off to their bedroom, alone, and called a quiet ‘goodnight’ after her; Eliza didn’t answer.

The couch in Alex’s office is stiff and uncomfortable, but at least he’s home, he tells himself. It's something, it’s a start, and just maybe it could be enough.

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes: 
> 
> independently of each other, both Queen and me titled different docs for our notes named "burn baby burn" 
> 
> every song have been finished and edited and will be posted daily from now. 
> 
> The spinoff ending needs some love and care before it's ready, but it'll depend on viewer reactions. Which means comments and nice things are appreciated. 
> 
> Anyway, tomorrow Blow Us All Away will be up, the rest of the series written by me. Queen's guest writing was a one time thing, but I do appreciative her work and love her to pieces. (she's my gf btw heart eyes emoji at her) 
> 
> check out my tumblr for more at pyrogavinofree.tumblr.com


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